It's time for the 2026 Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience (FUN) Undergraduate Research Travel Awards to the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) Meeting in Washington, DC!  If you have a student presenting at the SfN conference, consider applying for a FUN Travel Award to help support their SfN conference attendance.  Faculty Sponsors must be full members to submit award applications for their student presenters.
  

Information about the FUN undergraduate travel award: 

Through our generous sponsors and donors, the travel awards offer up to $1,000 in aid for travel and attendance expenses associated with attending the Society for Neuroscience 2026 meeting for undergraduate students who are presenting posters at the main Society for Neuroscience (SfN) meeting. All undergraduate student travel award applications must have a faculty sponsor who is a dues-paying member of FUN in good standing. 

The student must be an author on the abstract and present research that results from studies conducted while an undergraduate student.  It is not necessary that the student be enrolled as an undergraduate at the time of the SfN annual meeting.  Undergraduate students are eligible if the work was done before their graduation the previous academic year. However, students who have previously won a FUN travel award may not reapply.

A panel of FUN members reviews all undergraduate student travel award applications.  The judging criteria focus on the student’s contribution to and originality of the project, the importance of the project, and the candidate’s potential in science.  Preference is given to undergraduate students who are the first author(s) on the abstract.

How to apply:

Applications must be submitted through this survey link by the faculty sponsor.  Please be prepared to upload the following documents as part of the application:

1. The abstract submitted to the Society for Neuroscience for consideration for the 2026 Annual Meeting, including the title, authors, and affiliations.  The student must be an author on the abstract and present research results from studies conducted while an undergraduate. 
2. A statement by the student candidate indicating the scientific importance of the project, the candidate’s contribution to the project (including an estimation of the amount of time spent on it), and the relevance of this research experience to the candidate’s career plans (two page maximum).
3. The student’s CV/resume. The CV/resume should include any other research-related activities.
4. A statement by the student’s faculty sponsor.  This statement should clearly identify the specific intellectual, technical, and time contributions the student candidate has made, especially in the case of multiple student authors, and compare the student’s exact role in the project to those of the other authors. The sponsor’s statement should briefly summarize the lab’s source(s) of funding, and whether graduate students were part of or supervised the undergraduate’s project (500 word maximum).

 

Notes:
International applicants are welcome, but to be eligible their mentor must be an active FUN member in good standing.  However, we do not cover wire transfer fees nor currency exchange fees.  All awardees are responsible for submitting/turning in all travel receipts (i.e., flight, hotel, uber/taxis, etc. to receive their award payment).  The earliest the awardees can receive their funds are at SfN and you and your advisor are expected to work at the SfN booth.

If you have any questions about the application process, please contact Andrea Nicholas at the FUN Travel Award email

The deadline for consideration is July 17, 2026, at 8 PM EDT / 5 PM PDT

         
 

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History:

Use this link to view a list of previous travel award winners.